Why Diana and Marie Antoinette’s possessions are breaking records at auction

On Sunday evening in LA, a 1980s black velvet Jacques Azagury dress with a drop-waisted purple ballerina skirt fetched a record-breaking £904,000 at Julien’s Auctions. Last Thursday in Paris, a gilded wood chair was sold for almost £2.2million at Sotheby’s, the highest price ever paid for an 18th-century chair. Why the ceiling-smashing prices? The dress was once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and the chair came from Marie Antoinette’s boudoir (though it is not known whether she ever actually s